NBA banners in Shanghai promoting Thursday’s scheduled exhibition game between the Nets and Lakers are being taken down amid China’s anger toward the league and Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey after Morey tweeted support for Hong Kong protesters.

China was infuriated not only at Morey’s since-deleted tweet, but commissioner Adam Silver’s ensuing comments.

“It is inevitable that people around the world – including from America and China – will have different viewpoints over different issues,” Silver said. “It is not the role of the NBA to adjudicate those differences.

“However the NBA will not put itself in a position of regulating what players, employees and team owners say or will not say on these issues. We simply could not operate that way.”

Chinese Central Television will no longer broadcast Thursday’s scheduled game and it is unclear if the game will even be played.

All over Shanghai, they’re taking down banners and signs for the NBA in general, and for Thursday’s Lakers-Nets game specifically.
Game is still officially “on”…as of now. Lots of shrugged shoulders over whether it will actually happen. pic.twitter.com/6MFqnWGjFN

— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) October 9, 2019